Less Than Anyone I’ve Met In My Life

“He wanted to be president less than anyone I’ve met in my life. He had no desire to . . . run.”

• Tagg Romney, Mitt Romney’s eldest son, December 22, 2012
• Source: Boston Globe
• Context: Tagg Romney told the Boston Globe that his father, Mitt Romney, did not wish to be president and had to be convinced to run. Mitt Romney had been running for President for six years, first as a Republican candidate hopeful during the 2008 election cycle.

Somebody’s Got To Break Ranks

““I’m a conservative and a Republican, and I believe in the Constitution and all of the amendments. But the reality is, there are restrictions on lots of our freedoms. We cherish the freedom of speech, but it doesn’t give you the right to yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.

I have trouble defending a position that says there should be no restrictions on any guns or ammunition, and this slippery slope argument that if you allow the slightest bit of [gun] control, then that’s the start of taking away all our freedoms.

Somebody’s got to break ranks on one side or the other, it seems to me, and talk in a rational and thoughtful way, which will probably come with great risk to whoever does that. I imagine a Republican who speaks on this will probably be opposed in their next election.”

• Mark DeMoss, head of The Demoss Group, December 15, 2012
• Source: Politico
• Context:  DeMoss, a Christian conservative public relations executive and former Romney adviser, came out in support of stricter gun control measures in an interview with Politico.

The Bastion Of Racists

During an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan on October 25, 2012, Romney surrogate John Sununu (the former Republican governor of New Hampshire and the co-chair of the Romney campaign) suggested that Colin Powell’s endorsement of President Obama was racially motivated because they shared the same skin color:

“When you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to look at whether that’s an endorsement based on issues or he’s got a slightly different reason for endorsing President Obama…I think when you have somebody of your own race that you’re proud of being president of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him.”

On October 26, 2012, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell and a Republican, appeared on the Ed Show defending Colin Powell, endorsing President Obama for President, and criticizing the racism within his own party. Wilkerson said that Powell had always judged those he worked with by the content of their character and their competence, regardless of their ethnicity or racial background:

“I don’t have any respect for the integrity of the position that [Sununu] seemed to codify. Look at me, Ed, I’m white. I’m not black. Colin Powell picked me because of the content of my character and my competence…To say that Colin Powell would endorse President Obama because of his skin color is like saying Mother Teresa worked for profit.”

When asked if there was more behind Sununu’s comments, Wilkerson was very blunt in saying that racism played a huge role in many Republican’s oppose President Obama:

“My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people, not all of them, but most of them, who are still basing their decision on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists. And the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House  has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin. And that’s despicable.”

Getting Money Where The Money Is

In a video from 2002, taken surreptitiously without Romney’s knowledge and released by ABC News on March 2, 2012, Romney is shown boasting about how much federal help and tax payer funding he received when he was in charge of the Olympic Games. This contradicts his assertions that he was able to turn around the games with little or no assistance from the federal government or tax payer money, which he has used as a centerpiece for his 2012 presidential campaign.

• Here are some of the highlights from the video:

“I am big believer in getting money where the money is. The money is in Washington.”

“I want to go after every grant, every project, every department in Washington to assure that we are taking advantage of economic development opportunities.”

• Romney, who has more recently claimed that government cannot create jobs, talks about how government help can build economic and development opportunities:

“I have learned from my Olympic experience that if you have people who really understand how Washington works and have personal associations there you can get money to help build economic development opportunities.”

• On the Olympics, Romney said:

“The whole winter games was a combination of the federal, state and local governments along with private enterprise.”

“We actually received over $410 million from the federal government for the Olympic games. That is a huge increase over anything ever done before and we did that by going after every agency of government.”

• Romney even boasts about getting money from the Department of Education for the Olympic Games after a suggestion from a colleague:

“She said, ‘Why don’t I get the Department of Education to buy tickets to the Paralympics so that high school and grade school kids can go to the Paralympics?’ She literally got, I believe the number  was over $1 million from the Department of Education, funding to buy tickets for kids,” Romney said.  “This way we got kids there and we also got additional revenues that we wouldn’t have had.  That kind of creativity I want to bring to everything we do.”

Taking A Swing

“Jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the debate stage and take a swing at him. But you know you can’t do that because… Well, first there is a lot of Secret Service between you and him but also because this is the nature of the process.”

• Tagg Romney, son of Mitt Romney, October 17, 2012
• Source: audio
• Context: Appearing on the Bill Lumaye Show, This was Tagg Romney’s response when asked “what is it like for you to hear the President of the United States call your dad a liar.”

No One Dies Because Of Lack Of Insurance

“We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.”

• Mitt Romney, October 11, 2012
• Source: Columbus Dispatch
• Context: Discussing healthcare reform and repealing the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare or Romneycare), Mitt Romney claimed that people do not die because of a lack of health insurance. However, in September of 2011, ABC published a story on a 24 year old man who died because of a tooth infection which he could not get treated due to lack of insurance (also see the case of Andrew Urban) . A Harvard study has also linked a lack of insurance in the United State to 45,000 deaths a year.

Without One Molecule of Brain

“I mean Romney, in the second [GOP primary] debate, said that it’s a ‘no brainer’ to build a fence across the border. Um, Alex, you’re talking about somebody right now without one molecule of brain based on his statement. Building a fence across the border would be wacky nuts! And here it is — that’s what he wants to do.”

• Gary Johnson, former Republican and current Libertarian candidate for President, October 13, 2012
• Source: Interview with Salon
• Context: Gary Johnson was a Governor of New Mexico for eight years and ran for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, later deciding to run as a Libertarian instead. He was responding to a question about what keeps him going considering the odds stacked against him. His response was that he did not believe either candidate was proposing any real solutions, and mentioned Romney specifically.

Continuous Coverage

“With respect to pre-existing conditions, what Governor Romney has said is for those with continuous coverage, he would continue to make sure that they receive their coverage.”

• Eric Fehrnstrom, Senior Romney Campaign adviser, October 3, 2012
• Source: Talking Points Memo
• Context: During the Presidential debate on October 3, 2012, Mitt Romney claimed that his repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) would not deprive those with pre-existing conditions of insurance. Fehrnstrom, however, contradicted Mitt Romney’s claim right after the debate, saying that Romney’s plan would only cover those who already have continuous coverage, meaning that those with pre-existing conditions who have not been able to get coverage will not be covered under his new plan. When pressed on the issue, he said it would be up to the state’s to find their own solutions. Fact checkers have covered last nights debate, critiquing many of Romney’s accusations and claims: NPR, FactCheck.org, Politifact, and the Washington Post, among others.

Make A Much Better Case

“I would not argue that tax increases are per se stimulative. It all depends on circumstances. But it is clear from the experience of the 1990s that they can play a very big role in reducing the budget deficit and are not necessarily a drag on growth. And the obvious experience of the 2000s is that tax cuts increase the deficit and don’t necessarily do anything for growth. Those arguing otherwise need to make a much better case than they have so far.”

• Bruce Bartlett, senior policy advisor in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, August 5, 2012
• Source: The Clinton Tax Challenge For Republicans
• Context: Bruce Bartlett has been very critical of Republican economic policies, specifically their refusal to even consider raising any taxes to tackle economic problems. In this piece, Bartlett argues that there is no historical support for the Republican policies, yet there is evidence which shows that raising taxes does help the economy. In order to justify their policies, Bartlett accuses the Republicans of resorting to “economic revisionism”:

“However, there are still a few people around old enough to remember the 1990s and 2000s. Even without looking up government statistics, they know that the 1990s were a time when the economy boomed, while the 2000s were a period of economic stagnation. This has created a problem for Republicans, leading to economic revisionism.”

Lousy Candidate

“Lousy candidate; highly qualified to be president.”

• Source: Politico
• Context: A comment by a top Romney official according to Politico. The official claimed that Romney is a lousy candidate but would make a great President. Another official said that “he’s a great leader, but he’s not a great politician.”